Quite Frankly: Waiver wonders commonly available

Unfortunately, when it comes to Fantasy Football, an old adage is always true: when you snooze, you lose.

Are you suffering from injuries or scrambling to fill a position during a bye week?

Already missed out on the newly dubbed Fantasy stud from the Browns, Peyton Hillis, striking out when you desperately needed a running back?

Then this is the column for you.

Here’s a list of guys still available in many leagues that have shown flashes of greatness. What sets these players apart from others is that I believe they will thrust into Fantasy relevance throughout the weeks to come. For each position, I have them in the order of players I would want to pick up the most first.

RUNNING BACKS
BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots

With his four names they call him the “law firm” and he’s been making a pretty compelling case for himself the last two weeks. Fred Jackson is still hurt and Laurence Maroney was traded, so Green-Ellis is all the Pats have got. His large number of touches and 14-point average the last two weeks are no fluke.

Ryan Torain, Redskins

Torain is a monster. Literally. He carries the ball with speed and aggression and runs towards tacklers instead of around them (check out his run against the eagles on Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU8QgAUxVGk). Clinton Portis, the Redskins “starter,” gets hurt more than a five year old, and early reports out of Washington are saying Torain is already the starter this week. Portis is only a gust of wind away from permanently losing his job, so snag Torain now.

Mike Tolbert, Chargers

Tolbert filled in nicely for Ryan Mathews the last three weeks with more than 250 yards and three touchdowns to boot. The Chargers claim Mathews is healthy again and will be the starter, but I foresee the duo sharing time for the remainder of the season. Mathews has been relatively unproductive in the chances he has had, and I think Tolbert will slowly take more and more touches from him each week.

Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks

Yes, Marshawn Lynch. Although the Seahawks are hardly contenders, they are a vast improvement over Lynch’s former supporting cast (if you could even call them that) in Buffalo. To put it simply: the Bills suck. Lynch is fully recovered from his injury and pissed that the Bills didn’t think he was part of their future. He is going to be running with a chip on his shoulder and that should bode well for his Fantasy owners.

WIDE RECEIVERS
Brandon Lloyd, Broncos

The Broncos have almost completely abandoned the run and this is great news for all of their receivers from a Fantasy perspective. It’s somewhat of a crapshoot guessing which receiver you can trust each week, but Lloyd has been the most consistent. He hasn’t necessarily been targeted the most, but he’s easily been the most productive. I mentioned picking him up in a column earlier this year, and his 12.25 points per week are hard to argue with.

Lance Moore, Saints

The Saints present a similar problem to Broncos for Fantasy owners when it comes to choosing which receiver to start each week. Surprisingly, Moore has outperformed all of his teammates by a fairly wide margin, and would get the starting nod from me (even over Marques Colston). In the past two weeks alone Moore has three times as many touchdowns as all of the rest of the Saint’s receivers … combined.

QUARTERBACKS
Sam Bradford, Rams

Bradford is quickly proving he is worthy of being the number one pick overall and the $50 million guaranteed that came with it. Coming off of shoulder surgery and having Rams as his teammates gave little room for optimism surrounding his Fantasy value. His 12.25 points per week are modest, but he has been improving each start and would be a great backup in a league of any format. Have confidence plugging Bradford in during any week, and don’t be surprised if his stats continue to increase.

Shaun Hill, Lions

This might seem like a joke, but it’s not. Don’t get me wrong, Hill is one of the worst starters in the league and I would not be happy if he quarterbacked my favorite real-life NFL team. That said, he continues to produce good Fantasy stats each week during “garbage time,” when his Lion’s are trailing by a lot and the other team is taking it easy on defense. Luckily for anyone who starts him, he still accumulates Fantasy points regardless of who is playing defense against him. Believe it or not, Hill has put up at least 20 Fantasy points in two of the last three weeks. He has great mobility and Megatron (Calvin Johnson), who is a giant, to heave the ball to. He’s a great backup and capable of a 25-point game any week.

TIGHT ENDS
Tony Moeaki, Chiefs

Moeki seems to be a favorite target of his quarterback Matt Cassel, especially near the red zone. In a position that’s hard to find solid touchdown production, Moeki had two scores over the three weeks he played. For what it’s worth, I needed a tight end in my own league and Moeaki is who I went with. Expect a slow week against the Colts who always defend tight ends well, but I see Moeaki as a top-5 tight end the rest of the way.

Aaron Hernandez

Hernandez is a big athletic guy and built like a wide receiver. If his team didn’t have so many other options to pass to, he’d be an even bigger threat. He is still looking for his first touchdown, but makes plenty of catches each week for nice chunks of yardage. Since Moss has been traded to the Vikings, Hernandez’s stock has risen even more.